1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a printing device.
2. Related Art
Techniques have recently been employed for printing predetermined information on a recording medium by applying a functional liquid on the recording medium using an inkjet method for rendering the functional liquid into droplets and discharging the droplets, and solidifying the applied functional liquid. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-80687 discloses a printing device in which an IC chip is used as the recording medium, and the printing device prints a manufacturing number, a manufacturer name, or other predetermined information on the IC chip.
Droplet discharge devices have recently been emphasized which use ultraviolet-curing ink curable by ultraviolet irradiation to record information such as described above. Ultraviolet-curing ink has preferred characteristics as a printing ink, in that ultraviolet-curing ink cures extremely slowly until irradiated by ultraviolet rays, whereupon curing proceeds rapidly. Ultraviolet-curing ink also has the advantage of low environmental impact, since the solvent thereof does not evaporate during curing.
Ultraviolet-curing ink also exhibits strong adhesion to various recording media according to the composition of the vehicle. When cured, the ink is also chemically stable and has excellent characteristics such as high adhesiveness, chemical resistance, weather resistance, and friction resistance, and is resistant to outdoor environments. Ultraviolet-curing ink can therefore be used to form images on paper, resin film, metal foil, and other thin sheet recording media, as well as on label surfaces of recording media, textile products, and the like, and on objects which have a somewhat three-dimensional surface shape.
As described in Japanese Patent No. 03855724, for example, in a case in which an inkjet printer is used in which a UV lamp or other UV irradiation means is provided beside an inkjet head, UV ink can be cured in the vicinity of the position of drawing by the inkjet head immediately after drawing. This inkjet printer has a UV irradiation range control means for controlling UV radiation from the UV irradiation means based on head position information acquired by a linear encoder, so that the range of UV radiation by the UV irradiation means coincides with the range in which ink is discharged from the head.